Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Not all calories are created equal.

Something I have realized in my weight loss journey.  Not all calories are created equal (hence the title of my post).  Now I know calories from veggies and fruits are better than calories from junk.  That isn't what I'm talking about.  Most people get that.  I have discovered 1200 calories of real food are different than 1200 calories of fat free sugar free diet foods.  Seriously, they are.  Now I'm not quoting some study or recommendation from the powers that be.  No, this is only the observations of a woman with vast dieting experience.

 Based on my weight and weight loss goals, I get 1200-1500 calories a day.  1500 if I move and 1200 if I'm a slug.  It's been that way every time I've dieted.  I've used Sparkpeople before you see.  I've used weight watchers, and other plans too.  Each time I felt the diet food was my crutch.  It helped me get to the end of the day; or so I thought.  Instead, by the end of the day, I would be ready to eat the paint off the walls.  It was only through sheer will power I would get through the day without falling off the wagon so to speak.  Most times I wouldn't be successful, and would eat, and eat, and eat; scolding myself as I put something else in my mouth. You see it was all my fault.  I was weak.  I felt like an addict and wondered if I was actually addicted to food.

Now I know that none of that was true.  I wasn't weak.  I wasn't addicted, and Diet foods were not a help to me.  You see the human body is an amazing thing.  It is like the coolest computer ever.  It knows what it needs to function.  Not just carbs or protein, etc.  It knows what vitamins and minerals, etc it needs for any given task.  It relies on us to give our bodies what they need. It also relies on us to give our bodies what they need in a manner they recognize.  When our bodies don't recognize a component we ingest, they STORE IT!  Fat is the extra anything that comes into your body.  It's the stuff you didn't need to begin with.  Fat isn't just extra calories.  It is the extra whatever not needed by the body.  The body saves it for later.  The flip side of that coin is the fact that your body WILL get what it needs.  It will trigger you to eat until it gets what it wants.  So if you are filling your body with unrecognizable highly processed diet foods, you will have a mighty hard time staying on track.  I know.  I've been there.

Since I've started getting my 1200-1500 calories through real food; whole milk/whole milk products, Butter, Lean meats, fruits, veggies, Sugar, CHEESE (glorious cheese, NOT AMERICAN), I have discovered I'm not hungry!  I get to the end of the day.  I am in range for calories,fat, protein, and carbs, and I'm satisfied.  In fact I have discovered I will get full faster and eat less anyway.  Notice my list of foods I eat.  I'm not "low fatting" this thing.  I keep my fats in range according to sparkpeople by making sure the high fat stuff is tempered with lean meats or fruits veggies. etc.  But when I eat something that is supposed to have fat in it, I eat the full fat version.  Just less of it and I count it!

Time to break with the powers that be and go by logic.  Tamp down those voices in  your head that say you can't, you're not strong enough,  Try the old fashioned portion control and calorie counting with real food and see how you feel.  If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.  To each his own.  But I bet I'm not wrong.

3 comments:

  1. Congrats on your dieting and sticking with it! It can be hard but worth it! My husband and I are changing the way we eat as well. I have lost 32 lbs in around 16 weeks and he has lost closer to 40 in the same time frame. We are doing the ketogenic way of eating. Clean eating with real food. We avoid starches and unhealthy carbs(potatoes,bread etc) but eat lost of healthy fats... you can find tons of information about the ketogenic diet on Dr. Mercolas website. My husband is no longer having to take his diabetic meds...my health has improved tremendously and all the sugar and carb cravings are gone! It's amazing! Eat what God gave ya, not what man made ya!

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  2. Glad to hear that is working for you guys. I don't follow any particular diet. I count calories, portion control, move and nothing is off limits. I have to have sugar, chocolate, Coffee, etc. Bread not as much, but I do still have it. Just not very often.

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  3. LOL....funny about the sugar, chocolate and coffee! We still eat sugar(organic)...low carb chocolate and coffee...so I'm with ya on that! All girls need a "treat" once in awhile! Keep up the hard work...it really pays off!

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